To Confront Or Not To Confront?
by reinkarnation
Summary: 13/Cam femslash. S5E7 "The Itch". Cameron confronts Thirteen after her sarcastic "Yeah, moves much faster this way" comment during their phone call to House.


Okay, so I rewatched The Itch, and I've observed a few things between Cameron and Thirteen. And I made a big deal out of it, thinking it would make a good plot. Just a quick one-shot. I really wanted to write this, but I wanted to make it as quick as possible cos I still have that massive headache from last week, and I can't listen to myself typing on the keyboard without feeling like someone is repeatedly hitting my head with a baseball bat. Now excuse me while I go ask Dr. House to extinguish this headache. (Die, headache! Dieeeee!!) Cheers.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. And the show.

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**To Confront Or Not To Confront?**

Night has fallen. Cameron and the ducklings' investigation has been futile. However, for no sensible reason, they are still in Stewart's house. Apparently, they are waiting for House to give them the next move. They called him earlier this morning, and he decided to "bring the outside" to Stewart. They're not sure how and when he's going to do that, though, so here they are, stuck in Stewart's house, not sure if it's okay to leave.

While Taub vanishes to God-knows-where and while Kutner joins him, pretending to be useful by reinvestigating the house for toxins, Thirteen is sitting in the living room, absent-mindedly staring at space. It's been almost two hours of silent… well, space-staring. Who knew it can actually be kind of fun?

Just a few meters away, the door to Stewart's room closes, and Cameron appears in the living room. Seeing Thirteen spacing out on the sofa, the blonde moves and sits beside her.

"Are you okay, Dr. Hadley?" she asks, momentarily breaking the other woman's thoughts.

Startled, Thirteen clears her throat in an effort to hide the embarrassment of being caught idle and unproductive. She figures she'd rather crawl in a hole and die than let Cameron think that an incompetent doctor has replaced her position in House's team.

"Yes," Thirteen answers. "How's he?" she adds, asking about the patient, although she's 90% sure he's alright since Cameron has a 90% ability of making patients feel 90% alright.

"He's asleep. Where are the guys?" Cameron says, noticing that Kutner and Taub are nowhere to be found. As it has already been mentioned, they're somewhere around the house, pretending to be useful.

"That I do not know," Thirteen responds, surprising even herself that she was engaging in small talk. Of course she doesn't know where the guys are. She was spacing out, wasn't she?

Cameron notices small bags under the younger doctor's eyes. "You must be tired. Why don't you guys go home and get some sleep?"

"And leave you here alone?" As much as Thirteen is longing to dwell in the comfort of her own home, the idea of leaving Cameron all alone doesn't appeal to her. The ER doctor has been doing most of the job the whole day, taking care of Stewart and whatnot. If anything, Cameron should be the one who deserves to go home and get some sleep.

Taken aback for a second, Cameron is amazed that Thirteen is actually showing a speck of concern for her after the way she has been acting lately. _She's been giving me the cold-shoulder the whole day._ Cameron hates herself for, once again, letting her observations of Thirteen's behavior bug her for the umpteenth time today. Pushing that thought aside, she assures the brunette, "I'll be fine."

Finally, Kutner and Taub emerge from out of nowhere. Apparently, they have decided to stop pretending as if they're doing their job. That's a good decision. And while they're at it, maybe they can also promote the slogan: Stop wasting energy.

"Is there a problem?" Taub asks. It's odd seeing Cameron and Thirteen talk to each other, thus, causing their colleagues to think something's up. Is it really that impossible to imagine Cameron and Thirteen talk because they just feel like, you know… talking? That is so sad.

"No. I was just saying that it's okay if you all go home. I'll take care of Stewart," Cameron states.

"Great," Kutner rejoices, not too subtle about his excitement of getting the hell out of there. He likes working (of course he does, he likes working so much that he even tries _pretending_ to work even if there really is no work to be done), but right now, it's getting late and work is over… for today. "I mean… are you sure, Dr. Cameron? Are you going to be okay alone?" he asks, trying to conceal his excitement and not coming off as a douchebag.

"Yes. Don't worry, if House drops by, I'll tell him I'm responsible for sending you guys home," Cameron answers.

"I'll stay," Taub says resolutely. We're not really sure what he's trying to prove or do, but a good guess would be: he's trying to hide from his wife. The reason why remains unknown.

With that, Thirteen and Kutner grab their coats and head out the door.

* * *

As Cameron walks them to the front door, Thirteen feels guilty for acting so worthless. So after watching Kutner drive away, she pauses before opening her car door and looks back at Cameron standing by the front door.

"Dr. Cameron, if you need anything, or if there's a problem, you can call me," she offers. Although it's clear that Chase is on Cameron's speed dial no. 1, Thirteen just wanted to assure her that she can be on speed dial no. 2.

"Sure," the other woman answers. She wasn't sure if what Thirteen said was sincere or not, but she's guessing it has everything to do about the patient and nothing about her. Stewart is Thirteen's case too, so she has the right to know if anything comes up.

As Thirteen opens her car door, the idea of confrontation keeps running around Cameron's mind. She has been wanting to talk to the brunette about something all day.

"Dr. Hadley," she calls back out, grabbing Thirteen's attention. "Do you have time?"

Well, of course, Thirteen has time, but she's got only about 8-10 years left, so, yes, that's not enough – all the more making Cameron want to talk to her. "Is there something wrong?" Thirteen asks.

"Can we talk?"

Thirteen holds her breath. When someone asks _can we talk?_, that's not usually a good sign. Quickly trying to recall what she could've possibly done to make Cameron ask her that dreadful three-word question, Thirteen can't remember anything that she did that might even have the slightest implication of being malicious and/or stupid.

Not seeing any harm with talking with Cameron, she nods. "Uhh, sure."

* * *

Well, it turns out that Thirteen was wrong, because she _did_ do something that had the slightest implication of being malicious and/or stupid. And that is evident now as Cameron won't stop pacing back and forth in the middle of an empty extra room in Stewart's house. Something is obviously bugging her.

And since Thirteen didn't let herself be dragged by Cameron in an empty room just to watch her pace back and forth, she decides to break the silence. "Dr. Cameron? What's the matter?" she hesitantly asks, not really sure if she really wants to know what the matter is.

"Uhh… I dunno if I should ask this but…" Cameron trails off, trying to choose the right words, "Dr. Hadley, do we have a problem?"

Thirteen raises her eyebrows, puzzled. _What kind of question is that?_ Since Stewart is obviously not a people person, of course, they have a problem. "Our patient is agoraphobic –"

"That's not what I mean," Cameron cuts her off.

Silence.

Their eyes meet and linger, waiting for each other to speak up. Two minutes ago, confrontation seemed to be a very good idea, but now that it's happening, it wasn't a great idea after all. Confronting Thirteen without knowing how she's going to react is starting to scare Cameron.

"Did I do… something wrong to make you hate me?" Cameron starts, almost whispering to herself since Taub is in the living room, and he might hear them. But, honestly, she just really doesn't want to say her thoughts out loud.

"What? I don't hate you," Thirteen responds, incredulous at how that even crossed Cameron's mind. '_Hating her'? Where's that even going to be written in my Day Planner?_ No, it's not even in her to-do list.

"Please let me know if you have any concerns –"

"Dr. Cameron, I have _nothing_ against you," Thirteen tries to make her statement clearer.

Cameron doesn't seem convinced. "I don't understand. Then why are you so passive to me?" she asks, earning a skeptical look from the other doctor in return. "This morning, you were so silent and didn't seem to like my presence in the diagnostics room. You didn't even seem interested in anything I was saying and preferred to talk about how good Cuddy looks for someone on roofies."

"I was _listening_ to you. And Cuddy really did look good for someone on roofies," Thirteen immediately defends herself.

Cameron continues voicing out her observations, "You spent pretty much the entire morning glaring at me. I felt your eyes piercing through me when we were at the front door while I was begging for Stewart to let us in."

"I wasn't glaring at you. I was _staring_."

"And earlier, while House was talking on the phone about my relationship with Chase, you were sarcastic and –"

"Dr. Cameron!" Thirteen suddenly calls out to the other doctor to make her stop talking… err, ranting.

"What?"

"Please calm down," Thirteen says, half-amused and half-bemused at how nervous Cameron seemed. She then goes on to wonder if the blonde even heard her explanations. No, Thirteen doesn't want to have to explain everything again. It is already so much of a pressure to be accused of being passive. Well, there's always that door behind her if she ever wants to hightail out of there.

"Sorry," comes the reply.

Silence.

"I was sarcastic because… I didn't wanna hear any of it," Thirteen finally talks, explaining Cameron's last statement about her behavior – about her snarky yeah-moves-much-faster-this-way comment. That was rather true, though. She really didn't want to hear anything about Cameron and Chase's relationship.

Silence.

Thirteen figures she has more explaining to do. "I just…" she trails off as she sees the disconcerted expression on Cameron's face. "How did you notice all of that, anyway? And why would that be a big deal to you?" she wonders aloud how the older doctor was able to keep track of her actions all throughout the day.

Cameron chooses to ignore Thirteen's query. "What do you mean you _didn't wanna hear any of it_?" she asks, deflecting.

Thirteen lets out a small sigh. They are two confused women, and words are never going to answer both their questions. If anything, it's just going to complicate everything even more. So, deciding to put an end to this lovely little conference, Thirteen gathers all her guts and approaches Cameron. For every step she takes forward, the other doctor nervously takes one step back until she bumps into a dead end – a wall.

With one hand slightly grazing on Cameron's arm, Thirteen has her trapped as she moves closer until she was a few inches away from Cameron's body. Without thinking of the consequences, she lowers her face to the other woman's.

And in sync to that, Cameron shuts her eyes almost involuntarily.

Silence.

Silence.

More silence.

There's no contact. Cameron slowly opens her eyes and finds Thirteen and her blue eyes staring back at her, her lips just hovering next to her own. They are so close they can hear each other breathing.

No, the kiss didn't happen.

Calmly, Thirteen takes a step back. She doesn't even flinch. It was just probably one of her bold daring moments. "I have to go," she says, moving away and giving Cameron space for mobility. "Please call me if something comes up. I'll be back early in the morning. Good night, Dr. Cameron," she adds casually, walking away and reaching for the door.

"The fact that you were going to kiss me answers my question," Cameron suddenly blurts out.

Thirteen freezes by the doorway and stares back at her. "The fact that you were going to let me kiss you answers my question too," she responds.

And with one last glance, Thirteen leaves the room as Cameron leans her head back on the wall, trying to process what just happened.

_Too many facts in one day._

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Let me know what you think.


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